Rhody influence in Lone Star state

ROOT DOWN: Chef Lou E. Perella of Qui restaurant in Austin, Texas, is the son of Rhode Island chef and restaurateur Lou Perella, proprietor of Perella’s Ristorante in Warren. / COURTESY ERIC MORALES
ROOT DOWN: Chef Lou E. Perella of Qui restaurant in Austin, Texas, is the son of Rhode Island chef and restaurateur Lou Perella, proprietor of Perella’s Ristorante in Warren. / COURTESY ERIC MORALES

The first thing I noticed was that the chef had a Friday night off. This chef has a familiar name – Lou Perella – but decidedly different hours.
This Perella practices his art outside of Rhode Island but calls on his Rhode Island influence on a daily basis. Lou E. Perella, the son of the Rhode Island chef and restaurateur, is a sous chef at a trendsetting restaurant in Austin, Texas, another great restaurant city.
Perella is working for award-winning celebrity chef Paul Qui at his flagship restaurant, Qui, in the Lone Star state capital. He readily agreed that he is in a different place than his dad.
“I handle ordering and bulk prep in addition to being on the line,” he explained. “I handle the beginning aspects of service so my day starts earlier.” The younger Perella recently joined the Qui organization after spending four years at another high-profile restaurant company, the Union Square Hospitality restaurant group in New York City, including the famed Union Square Café, Gramercy Tavern, Shake Shack and North End Café.
Perella joined that company after graduating from Culinary Institute of America. It was an important step in his career, but not the first step. That came back in Warren in his dad’s restaurant kitchen. “I peeled potatoes for hours,” he recalled.
Young Perella remembers too well more than a few stints as the Friday and Saturday night dishwasher as well. “I think my dad was trying to get me to hate the business,” he chuckled. But in between shifts, he learned about the importance of developing relationships with local suppliers and farmers.
“I’ve been in the fields at D’Allesandro’s Farm with my dad picking English peas and squash blossoms,” he said. This was before the “farm-to-table” movement currently in vogue. Lou E. Perella gives all credit to his father for instilling the philosophy of using fresh, local ingredients whenever possible. He said of the elder Perella: “He has great relationships with suppliers all over Rhode Island. You don’t have to be serving haute cuisine to put out phenomenal product every single day!”
Back in Austin, that second nature is paying off. At Qui, the house rule is to purchase Texas-grown or -produced ingredients whenever possible. “There are so many farms in Austin,” said the younger Perella. “The only exception to the Texas rule is fish,” he pointed out. He especially appreciates having a relationship with local butchers. “A block from the restaurant, there is an old-school butcher. It reminds me of a place my grandparents shopped,” he said.
On the Qui menu is a nightly Butcher’s Cut. Recently there was a steak called “vavette” that Perella described as similar to flank steak. When asked about comparisons of the Rhode Island food scene to what is happening in Austin, he was quick to mention chef Champe Speidel’s butcher-to-table concept between his retail shop in Barrington and his restaurant in Bristol. “There are quite a few places doing [the approach] in Austin right now.”
Perella learned to shine within a structured culinary environment during his tenure at Union Square. He says although the company is sizeable in number of venues and employees, it is like the restaurant business in general, a small world. He talked about a chef who he considers one of his mentors who expanded upon the work ethic he learned back in his dad’s kitchen. Young Perella rose quickly through the ranks, becoming a sous chef within a year and a half.
There is one more mentor that Lou E. Perella credits for his success. Between the potatoes in Warren and New York City, he spent an internship during his Culinary Institute career at famed chef Melissa Kelly’s restaurant in Tucson, Ariz. Kelly and her restaurant, Primo in Rockland, Maine, are widely recognized as leaders in farm-to-table and Perella admired her work and philosophy.
Later, it all came full circle when last fall, Lou and his dad spent two weeks at Primo with Kelly and her family curing and preserving prosciutto, capicolla, sopressata and other traditional charcuterie. It was an experience neither Perella will forget.
Even though he spends his days working for an award-winning chef in a trendy Texas restaurant city, Lou E. Perella looks east for his inspiration. Of his father, Lou Perella, and Perella’s Ristorante in Warren, he said, “He is an all-encompassing chef, teacher and philanthropist. I hope I can be just like him.”
Note: In my last column, the proprietor of George’s of Galilee was misidentified. Kevin Durfee is the owner of George’s. •


Bruce Newbury’s Dining Out food and wine talk radio show is heard on WADK-AM 1540, WHJJ-AM 920, WBLQ-AM 1230, online and through mobile applications. He can be reached by email at bruce@brucenewbury.com

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